Sheffield Steelkings won the first ever Kings Cup with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win against France’s Para Ice Hockey HCCA Dahu 63 in front of around 200 spectators at IceSheffield, with nearly a further 150 people watching the live feed, on Sunday evening.

Wayne Plummer scored the game winning goal at 3:15 of overtime, lifting a rebound from his own shot over the Dahu goaltender’s pad after Jake Oakley drew in the defenders to create the space for the shot.

The Steelkings got off to the best possible start, taking the lead at 0:41. Oakley – who had two assists and a goal on the day – snaked around a defender and behind the French net before squaring the puck towards the centre of the goal for Steelkings Captain Rachel Paget to score.

Dahu levelled things up at 4:46 through the impressive Vincent Coudignat with an assist from their captain Delphine Gerard.

However, the Steelkings were back on top immediately; as Paget returned the favour by releasing Oakley into Dahu territory down the left and this time he cut across the face of goal and fired home at 5:00.

The Steelkings held their 2-1 lead until 14:58 of the second period when Coudignat unleashed a powerful effort into the bottom corner.

On winning the inagural version of the competition, Oakley said: “I am so thrilled to see our first ever international competition be such a success. Despite all the hard work behind the scenes, the first ever Kings Cup has been amazing and we can’t wait to invite the next team to join us in 2020.

“This has been another amazing showcase for our sport and the Sheffield Steelkings, and this is only the beginning.”

Sheffield Steelkings look forward to defending the kingdom once again when the next invaders play for the 2020 Kings Cup.